<h1 class="first">CodeDrive Basics</h1>
<p>This tutorial will be useful for those who doesn't familiar with Visual Studio 2010 interface and workflow or came from other Flash IDEs. 
If you are not, you may skip this tutorial and start <a href="/tutorials/create-first-as3-project-with-codedrive.html" title="Create First AS3 project with CodeDrive">
creating your first AS3 project with CodeDrive</a></p>

<h2>Workspace</h2>
<a class="demo_preview" href="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/visual_studio_2010_workspace.png" title="CodeDrive Workspace">
  <img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/visual_studio_2010_workspace_preview.png" alt="Visual Studio 2010 Workspace"/>
</a>

<h3>Solution Explorer</h3>
<p>Solution Explorer is main tool allows you to manage solution. Visual Studio use "solution" abstraction as a container of projects. A solution can 
contain multiple projects and a project contains multiple items. This may be useful, if you developing several projects simultaneously.</p>
<p>Solution Explorer displays structure of your project hierarchically, i.e. likewise as it is located at filesystem.</p>
<p>Due to Solution Explorer context menu you can perform common project management tasks &ndash; create/rename/delete files and folders, use standard 
Cut/Copy/Paste and drag'n'drop operations.</p>

<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/solution_explorer_window.png" alt="Solution Explorer Window"/>

<h4>Context Menu</h4>
<p>Context Menu appears when you click with right mouse button on single or several items in Solution Explorer. Depending on item type, 
different context menu will be displayed since some commands available only on specific item type.</p>

<p><strong>Build</strong> command is starts building of your project</p>
<p><strong>Rebuild</strong></p>
<p><strong>Clean</strong></p>
<p><strong>Generate HTML</strong></p>
<p><strong>Project Dependencies...</strong></p>
<p><strong>Project Build Order...</strong></p>
<p><strong>Refresh</strong></p>
<p><strong>Add</strong></p>
<p><strong>Add Library Package Reference...</strong></p>
<p><strong>Set as StartUp Project</strong></p>
<p><strong>Debug</strong></p>
<p><strong>Cut</strong></p>
<p><strong>Remove</strong></p>
<p><strong>Rename</strong></p>
<p><strong>Unload Project</strong></p>
<p><strong>Open Folder in Windows Explorer</strong></p>
<p><strong>Properties</strong></p>


<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/project_item_menu.png" alt="Project Item Menu"/>

<h3>Code Editor</h3>
<p>The most of the time you will actively use Code Editor &ndash; because programming is primarily work with code in form of the text. This is the 
main reason because we tried to make coding assistance comfort and effective.</p>
<p>If you are new at ActionScript 3 programming language, code autocompletion will help you along. Autocompletion provides you with a list 
of the most probable language constuctions depending on context. To display completion list immediately, place cursor in ActionScript 3 code file, 
opened in Code Editor, and press <em>Ctrl+Space</em>.</p>

<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/code_editor.png" alt="Code Editor Window"/>

<h3>Error List</h3>
<p>Error List Window accumulates all warning and error messages. Double-click on any message entry opens the file where problem occurs and moves to 
problem location.</p>
<p>If Error List Window is not displayed choose <strong>Error List</strong> from <strong>View</strong> menu  or use hotkey <em>Ctrl + W, E</em>.</p>
<p>Following information displayed about each message in Error List</p>
<dl>
  <dt>Category</dt>
  <dd>Displays icon of entry type</dd>  
  <dt>Default Order</dt>
  <dd>Indicates the number of message in list</dd>
  <dt>Description</dt>
  <dd>Displays detailed error description</dd>
  <dt>File</dt>
  <dd>Displays name codefile where problem occurs</dd>
  <dt>Line</dt>
  <dd>Displays the number of line where problem in code occurs</dd>
  <dt>Column</dt>
  <dd>Displays the position in line where problem in code occurs</dd>
  <dt>Project</dt>
  <dd>Displays the name of the project</dd>
</dl>
<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/error_list_window.png" alt="CodeDrive Error List Window"/>

<h3>Output Window</h3>
<p>Output Windows displays various status messages - building notifications, error messages, etc. All messages displays both, in Error Window 
and in Output Window.</p>
<p>If Output Window is not displayed choose <strong>Output</strong> from <strong>View</strong> menu or use hotkey <em>Ctrl + W, O</em>.</p>

<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/output_window.png" alt="CodeDrive Output Window"/>

<h3>Properties Window</h3>
<p>Properties Window display properties of item currently selected in Solution Explorer Window. It's also intended to embedded resources 
configuration. If Properties Window is not displayed choose <strong>Properties Window</strong> from <strong>View</strong> menu or use hotkey 
<em>Ctrl + W, P</em>.</p>

<h4>Resource management</h4>
<p>To mark resource as embedded, select it in Solution Explorer, move to Properties Window and set value in field <strong>Include 
In Library</strong> to <em>True</em>. Common option for all types of embedded resources will be <em>Class</em> - name of class under 
which resource will be accessible from ActionScript 3 code. There is no need to create this class yourself &ndash; CodeDrive ActionScript 3 
compiler will create this class in memory during compilation if class not found.</p>
<p>Depending on embedded resource type different embedding options will be displayed. The following files are supported for 
embedding: images(JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF), sounds (MP3, WAV), SWF-files and binary data in any file format.</p>
<p>For images they are <em>Keep Original Quality</em> and <em>Quality</em>. By default, <em>Keep Original Quality</em> is set to 
<em>True</em> &ndash; this means that image will be embedded inside .SWF file with the same quality as original image.  If you want 
to reduce resulting SWF size, use <em>Quality</em> option. To enable it, set <em>Keep Original Quality</em> to <em>False</em>. 
Quality value is in persents, 100% means original image quality.</p>
<p>For sound available bitrate and sample rate. Sample rate values are determined &ndash; 5512Hz, 11025Hz, 22050Hz and 44100Hz; bitrate is 
determined too - 8Kbps, 16Kbps, 24Kbps, 32Kbps, 40Kbps, 48Kbps, 56Kbps, 64Kbps, 80Kbps, 96Kbps, 112Kbps, 128Kbps, 144Kbps, 160Kbps, 192Kbps, 
224Kbps, 256Kbps and 320Kbps. Both contains special <em>Original</em> value that means to use the same characteristic as in original sound.</p> 
<p>SWF files and binary resources have no additional embedding options.</p>
<p>Note that if you embedding images or sound with changing original quality, it may takes a long time.</p>
<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/properties_window.png" alt="CodeDrive Properties Window"/>

<h3>FlashLog Window</h3>
<p>FlashLog Window displays Flash Player<code>trace</code> output messages. Debugger version of Flash Player is need to be installed for 
properly working of FlashLog.</p>
<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/flash_log_window.png" alt="Flash Log monitoring window"/>


<h3>CodeDrive Menu</h3>

<h2>Configure Project</h2>
<a name="project_configurations"></a>
<h3>Project Configurations</h3>
CodeDrive supports two project configurations - Debug and Release. 

<h3>Project Properties Window</h3>
<p>In Project Properties Window all properties divided into two groups - common project properties and configuration-dependable properties. 
Common project properties consist of two groups too - ActionScript and SWF options.<br/>
ActionScript options are are target Flash Player version, document class, list of source folders and list of SWC components.<br/>
Configuration-dependable properties include output, debugging and HTML template options.</p>

<img class="screenshot_center" src="/images/tutorials/codedrive_basics/project_properties_window.png" alt="Project Properties Window"/>

<h1>What's next?</h1>
<p>Let's start to <a href="/tutorials/create-first-as3-project-with-codedrive.html" title="Create First AS3 project with CodeDrive">
create our first ActionScript 3 project with CodeDrive</a></p>